Review of The China Syndrome (1979) by Martin D — 04 Aug 2011

Twenty years after its initial theatrical release, it is sometimes difficult to comprehend how this film so closely foretold events that were to come almost immediately at Three Mile Island and later at Chernobyl, and how in many ways it coalesced the views of many on nuclear power. Twenty years later, it is interesting to note that to a large extent we have not learned the lessons from this film that perhaps we should, and that many of the problems touched on by this film remain the main problems today of the nuclear power industry. For instance, for some in this country, the question of disposal of radioactive waste remains an issue that is very close to home with proposals to build nuclear waste dumps in Australia.

So where does fiction end and the truth begin? A nuclear power plant in California suffers an "incident" during the visit of news reporter Kimberly Wells (Jane Fonda) and cameraman Richard Adams (Michael Douglas) to make a segment on nuclear power for the news. Whilst filming is forbidden in sensitive areas of a nuclear power plant, Adams surreptitiously films the panic in the control room during the "incident" as shift supervisor Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon) fights to contain the problem. Thinking they have the scoop of all scoops Wells and Adams rush to get the film onto the evening news, only to have the station bow to pressure from the plant's owners based upon not really knowing what went on. Adams promptly steals the film from the vault and at the public licensing hearings for a new nuclear plant, has the film reviewed by a couple of experts who confirm that a very serious accident, known as "the China Syndrome", was narrowly averted.

After a rather short investigation, the plant is passed for restart, but Godell is concerned about a strange vibration he felt during the initial incident. During his own investigation, he discovers that the contractors who built the plant failed to strictly adhere to safety guidelines, thereby creating a possible devastating accident risk. The race is then on to expose the cover up with Wells, Adams and Godell up against the mighty corporate empire, who will stop at nothing (including attempted murder) to get the plant back on line and earning dollars - no matter the consequences (like reducing California to a nuclear wasteland for hundreds of years).

So where does fiction end and the truth begin? You tell me, but a lot of what went into this film is based upon rumours relating to the licensing and building of many nuclear power plants in North America. These rumours were based on evidence, of an anecdotal nature, gathered by many environmental organizations over the years - and Michael Douglas and Jane Fonda at the time were very active in that area if my memory serves me correctly. Having had the opportunity to visit a nuclear plant under construction in Canada some years ago, I can at least attest to the fact that there are supposedly very stringent safety procedures involved in the design, building and operation of a nuclear plant, which obviously are extremely costly. Therefore it is not unreasonable to expect in the real world that, if there is a way to avoid the costs, the builders and operators of these plants probably would not be too averse to bending the rules a little. Sorry for the pontificating, but this film really still has such a powerful message to send regarding the whole issue of nuclear power.

This is very much the work of the three main cast members who do a pretty decent job of what is not exactly an easy story to carry off. Clearly driven by Michael Douglas and Jane Fonda, it would be interesting to know exactly how much input the director James Bridges really had into this project.